When people today talk about jewels, jewellery, gemmology and gems it is clear the vocabulary has become confused. Gemstones are treasured minerals found in the earth. ‘Gems’ are the objects fashioned from them. Jewels are gem ready for mounting into jewellery and other objects of art. And, jewellery – it is the finished product that if its designer from Cupid to Cartier has succeeded, adorns its wearer well.

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Although he died before the French revolution Voltaire’s experiences at London became part of the wider expertise he gained that informed European enlightenment

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Charles II abandoned puritanical austerity following his Restoration to the English throne in 1660. It is not surprising that he wanted to buy sumptuous and fashionable clothes. When he had been a fugitive from the Battle of Worcester in 1651 he been forced to wear ‘nothing but a green coat and a pair of country breeches on and a pair of country shoes, that made him sore all over his feet that he could scarce stir’. On his return he gave himself up completely to luxury and pleasure, adorning his very Frenchified person with sumptuous textiles and jewels.

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